1. Benchmarks H1 2011
Planning Audience Reach with
‘Adjusted Unique’
MediaMind’s Innovative Measurement of Reach Solves
Over-Counting due to Cookie Deletion
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2. Table of Contents
3 The Key Points
4 Measuring Online Reach and Frequency
5 Adjusted Unique
6 Linking Campaign Size and Reach
8 Linking Reach and Effectiveness
10 Conclusion
11 Regional Benchmark Tables
11 Australia & New Zealand 15 Middle East & Africa
12 East Asia 16 North America
13 Europe 17 South Asia
14 Latin America
18 Country Benchmark Tables
18 Argentina 28 Germany 38 Mexico 48 Spain
19 Australia 29 Greece 39 Netherlands 49 Sweden
20 Austria 30 Hong Kong 40 New Zealand 50 Switzerland
21 Belgium 31 India 41 Norway 51 Taiwan
22 Brazil 32 Ireland 42 Philippines 52 Thailand
23 Canada 33 Israel 43 Poland 53 Turkey
24 Denmark 34 Italy 44 Portugal 54 UK
25 Dubai 35 Japan 45 Romania 55 United States
26 Finland 36 Korea 46 Singapore
27 France 37 Malaysia 47 South Africa
56 Verticals Definitions
57 Metrics Definitions
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3. Planning Audience Reach with ‘Adjusted Unique’
The Key Points
1 One of the basic measures of any campaign is the number of unique users it reached.
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Until now, reach measurement was inaccurate due to cookie deletion that overestimated
the number of unique users by threefold.
Traditional reach metrics were based on simple cookie counting, such that users who
3 deleted browser cookies were double counted.
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Now, MediaMind has developed a breakthrough in online measurement by accurately
measuring reach, overcoming the cookie deletion issue.
5
MediaMind’s newly developed ‘Adjusted Unique’ metric was accredited by the Media
Rating Council (MRC) as IAB compliant for measuring reach.
Using ‘Adjusted Unique’, MediaMind created a framework to help advertisers assess
the number of impressions they need to reach their desired audience.
6 • Reaching 10 million unique users in the US would take about 100 million impressions.
• In Germany, France, the UK and Spain, reaching 10 million unique users would
take about 120 million impressions.
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4. Planning Audience Reach with ‘Adjusted Unique’
Measuring Online Reach and Frequency
One of the basic and most important metrics for any campaign, Now, MediaMind has developed a breakthrough in online
online or offline, is the number of users it reaches and the average measurement, with the new ‘Adjusted Unique’ metric. ‘Adjusted
frequency. This is quite obvious for branding purposes; higher reach Unique’ detects cookie deletion by users, and statistically adjusts
increases brand awareness. Even for direct response purposes, for over-counting. This new metric sets a new industry standard for
the pool of users reached represents the group of users with the accuracy of reach and frequency measurement, and was accredited
potential to convert. by the Media Rating Council (MRC) as IAB compliant for measuring
reach. ‘Adjusted Unique’ has enabled MediaMind to develop a
Despite the importance of reach and frequency, these metrics
framework to help advertisers assess the number of impressions
were often set aside in favor of the interactive metrics of clicks,
they need to reach any size of audience.
engagements and conversions. There are two main reasons for this:
Furthermore, new research shows that reach is an effective measure
• Simple cookie based measures of reach and frequency have
of campaign performance. This research shows that most users
proved unreliable due to over counting caused by cookie deletion.
do notice online ads and that these ads translate to higher search
• Interaction metrics were thought to be more advanced than reach
activity, site visits and purchases.
and frequency and that online ‘everything can be measured’.
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5. Planning Audience Reach with ‘Adjusted Unique’
Adjusted Unique
Traditional cookie counting methods simply count all cookies. industry standard for accuracy in measuring reach, and enables
However, after a user deletes his or her cookie, a new cookie is advertisers a new level of accuracy when analyzing the effectiveness
placed in his browser and therefore he is counted again as a new of their campaigns.
user. comScore estimates that 33% of users delete their third
What is the average over-counting of the simple unique cookie
party cookies (cookies used by ad servers) during a period of one
counting methods? Comparing the number of unique users measured
month. Furthermore, the research firm has found 5.1 third party
by simple cookie counting to the adjusted number of users using
cookies on average in a browser over one month1. The prevalence
‘Adjusted Unique’ shows the average over-counting of reach. The
of cookie deletion means that simple cookie measures of reach
results shown in the chart below indicate that simple cookie counting
largely overestimate the correct number of unique users.
overestimates the number of users by a factor of between two and
The new ‘Adjusted Unique’ overcomes cookie deletion. The three, for campaigns with a duration of 15-60 days. Furthermore,
methodology behind the metric has been thoroughly tested for in continental Europe, in countries like Germany, Spain and France
accuracy and was accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC) as cookie deletion is the least prevalent, while in the US and Canada
IAB compliant for measuring reach. ‘Adjusted Unique’ sets a new it is the most prevalent.
Over-Counting with Simple Cookie Counting
3.5
3.0 3.0
3.0
Over-Counting Multiplier
2.6 2.6
2.5 2.3 2.4
2.2 2.2
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Germany Spain France Other Australia UK Canada United
States
Source: MediaMind Research. Data: May 2010 to January 2011. Campaigns with a duration of 15-60 days.
How does the new metric work? MediaMind’s ‘Adjusted Unique’ uses a sophisticated proprietary statistical algorithm to estimate the
correct number of unique users. The algorithm identifies all users who have not deleted their cookies and their average frequency. For a
large group of users, the average frequency for users who deleted cookies and for users who have not deleted cookies is similar. Therefore,
dividing the impressions by average frequency delivers a good approximation of the true number of unique users.
1
comScore, Open White Paper, Proposal For a New Person-Centric Measure For Web Site Server Measurement in the U.K.
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6. Planning Audience Reach with ‘Adjusted Unique’
Linking Campaign Size and Reach
How many impressions do you need in order to reach 10 million users at least once? In the US, it would be about 100 million impressions,
on average. In Germany, France, the UK and Spain it would take about 120 million impressions.
Reach and frequency depend on many variables such as the number of publishers, the publisher’s audience, the campaign’s audience focus,
the size of the campaign, etc. Therefore, larger campaigns tend to have higher variability in reach as compared to smaller campaigns.
Campaign Size and Reach in the United States
45M
40M
35M
Adjusted Unique Users
30M
25M
20M
15M
10M
5M
0M
0M 50M 100M 150M 200M 250M 300M 350M 400M 450M 500M 550M 600M 650M 700M
Campaign Impressions
Source: MediaMind Research. Data: May 2010 to January 2011.
The chart above and the chart below present the link between the number of impressions in the campaign and the number of users reached
for various countries. For this analysis, the new ‘Adjusted Unique’ metric was used in order to overcome the over-counting of users who
were exposed to the campaign and estimate the true number of online users.
The analysis shows that for smaller campaigns, with up to 100 million impressions, the points tend to be concentrated tightly around
the trend line, which means that ‘campaign size’ is a good predictor of reach. However, as campaigns grow larger, variables such as the
number of publishers tend to kick in, and therefore advertisers can get high or low reach with the same number of impressions. For
example, campaigns with the aim to reach up to 15 million unique users, advertisers can use this data to assess the investment that they
need to make to reach their audience.
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7. Planning Audience Reach with ‘Adjusted Unique’
As expected, the size-reach curve exhibits diminishing returns, such that for the first million impressions, every impression is more likely to
reach a ‘fresh’ user as compared to an impression after the first 100 million. Still, for every country out of the seven countries that were
examined in this analysis, the curve looks different due to size, concentration of publishers and many other factors.
Worldwide Campaign Size and Reach
25M Country
Australia
Canada
France
20M
Germany
Spain
Adjusted Unique Users
UK
15M
10M
5M
0M
0M 20M 40M 60M 80M 100M 120M 140M 160M 180M 200M 220M 240M
Campaign Impressions
Source: MediaMind Research. Data: May 2010 to January 2011.
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8. Planning Audience Reach with ‘Adjusted Unique’
Linking Reach and Effectiveness
While direct response metrics still dominate the online measurement Another important finding is that most participants look at the
world, new research has emerged to suggest that the mere exposure ad on the page multiple times. The OPA researchers found that
to online ads is a good predictor of advertising effectiveness. This 67% of participants view the ad both during the first 10 seconds
indicates that advertisers can use ‘Adjusted Unique’ as a measure after loading the page and view it again during the following 10
of campaign effectiveness alongside other metrics such as clicks, seconds. On average, participants have focused their eyes on the
engagement and conversions. banner 15 times.
The importance of simple ‘exposure’ to an ad is supported by recent When measuring the emotional response, the OPA found that
research from the American Online Publishers Association (OPA). participants responded to the banners in a similar manner as to
Using eye tracking technology, the OPA tested to see whether other parts of the page. However, users who viewed the ad again
people actually viewed the ads that were presented to them on a after the first 10 seconds exhibited an elevated emotional response.
page that they were browsing. In addition, the researchers used Users also rated the ads favorably overall, giving them a rating of
biometric testing to track the participants’ emotional response 6.3 out of 9.
by monitoring their breath and heart rate. The biometric testing
In another research, comScore maintains that the primary effect
is similar to a lie detector test, and signifies a positive or negative
of online ads is the exposure itself and not necessarily the act of
emotional response.
clicking on it. In a research titled “How Online Advertising Works:
The results were staggering, with 96% of participants paying attention Whither The Click?”, comScore has shown that two-thirds of Internet
to the ads that were presented to them during a natural browsing users do not click on any display ads over the course of a month
experience. Furthermore, 90% of participants noticed the ads during and that only 16% of Internet users account for 80% of all clicks.
the first 10 seconds of uploading the page. In fact, on average, it Furthermore, clickers tend to be younger and less affluent than
took participants less than one second to notice the banner. non-clickers. comScore confirmed that there is a latency effect and
branding effect to online advertising, in which users arrive at the
advertiser’s website even without clicking.
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9. Planning Audience Reach with ‘Adjusted Unique’
The Effect of Display Advertising
50%
45%
40%
Lift Exposed/Unexposed
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Advertiser Website Branded Keyword Online Purchase Offline Purchase
Visits Search
Source: comScore. “How Online Advertising Works: Whither The Click?”.
However, the research by comScore also indicates that display advertising has an effect on user behavior even at low click through rates.
In the research, which included 139 display campaigns from seven verticals, comScore has shown substantial effects on traffic, sales and
branding despite a lack of clicks. According to comScore, the display campaigns yielded a 46% lift in advertiser websites visits, over a four
week period. In addition, exposed users are 38% more likely to conduct an advertiser related branded keyword search, over a four week
period and are 27% more likely to make a purchase online. Furthermore, exposed users are 17% more likely to make a purchase at the
advertiser’s retail store.
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10. Conclusion
A significant body of evidence suggests that online advertising can have a considerable impact at
the exposure phase and that it is important to measure reach accurately. Therefore, the ‘Adjusted
Unique’ metric is a valuable addition to MediaMind’s group of measurements and presents a
breakthrough in measurement of reach and frequency for the industry.
‘Adjusted Unique’ adjusts for over-counting of users as a result of cookie deletion, and serves as
a reliable measure of audience reach. The metric was thoroughly tested and accredited by the
MRC for compliance with the IAB’s Audience Reach Measurement guidelines. It complements the
interactivity metrics with measurement of the reach of exposure that is linked to ad effectiveness.
Now, advertisers can measure the number of users that were exposed to their campaign, without
over-counting.
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